


Over The Cliff

by Clotilda_Willard



Category: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-27
Updated: 2014-11-27
Packaged: 2018-02-27 04:01:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2678252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clotilda_Willard/pseuds/Clotilda_Willard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happened after they jumped off the cliff and Butch pulled a half-drowned Sundance from the water...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Over The Cliff

Butch Cassidy dragged The Sundance Kid from the water. Sundance wasn’t making any noise and Cassidy thought the man might have already drowned. But then there was a soft moan and The Kid spit up water and started coughing uncontrollably.  Butch surveyed their surroundings while keeping a watchful eye on his partner. A few yards away there was a nice overhang and small cave which had been carved out by the river. They’d be able to lay out their clothes to dry and hide overnight. There was no way Lefors could get to the other side of the canyon without backtracking at least a day’s worth of time. Butch and The Kid would be long gone by then. Of course, they might follow along the river looking for their dead bodies but eventually they’d give up. It meant right now that they couldn’t light a fire to keep warm or dry their clothes faster. If Lefors didn’t see it he certainly would be able to smell the smoke.

Sundance was still coughing and Butch went to his side resting his hand on the man’s back. The Kid was shivering and still keeping mighty quiet.

“Can you move?” Butch asked trying to get the man to his feet.

Sundance sort of nodded and that was it. He was gasping and dragging in great lungfuls of air only to start coughing again. He wasn’t much help as Cassidy dragged him into the cave.

Sundance’s teeth were chattering and he started coughing again.

“Easy.” Butch took a good look at the blond. The man was pretty bedraggled looking from head to toe. He had scrapes and cuts on his hands and face where he had caromed off rocks. Butch could only guess at the bruises elsewhere on the man’s body.

“We’ve got to get out of these wet clothes,” Cassidy said. “It’s almost dark and it isn’t going to get any warmer.”

“You just…want to get us…naked,” Sundance coughed, “so you can take… advantage of…me.”

The statement brought Butch up short. Why would The Kid even joke about that. He’d never known Sundance to show any interest toward him or any other man and he’d certainly done his best to keep his feelings for Sundance under wraps. However…

“Yup, you guessed it. I just couldn’t wait any longer to get my hands on you,” he joked in return. “But, don’t you think I might have found a better time and place to get you into the sack.”

Sundance fixed him with a hard stare but started coughing again. A soon as the coughing subsided the shivering and ragged breathing came back.

The sun was just about down and only twilight remained.

“C’mon, I’ll try to be a gentleman.” Cassidy rose long enough to get out of his wet clothes. He laid them out flat to dry.

Sundance nodded and started unbuttoning his shirt but his fingers shook and Butch was already naked before the Kid got to the third button.

Cassidy moved into the small cave a few feet, far enough to see there was a smoother, more sandy area with a little grass to the back where they could lay without too much discomfort. He rummaged  around the small cove and gathered brush and a couple of green bushes to camouflage the entrance.

He looked to Sundance, the man had shrugged out of his shirt. Butch could see bruises on his shoulders, arms and back.

“Give me that.” He took The Kid’s shirt and spread it out with the other clothes. “There’s a fairly smooth area back in the cave. Sorry we can’t light a fire, but it might be seen.”

“I know,” Sundance replied, barely able to control the trembling in his hands.

Finally Cassidy took pity on him. He offered his hand. “Stand up.”

Sundance came to his feet with Cassidy’s aid and wobbled as Butch unbuckled his belt.

“I can undress myself.” He slapped Cassidy’s hands away.

“Yeah and we can freeze to death or die of old age before you get out of those wet pants.” Butch pulled the belt loose and undid the fly. He slipped the denims down over Sundance’s hips.”

The Kid teetered for a moment.

“Sit down before you fall down and I’ll finish this.” Cassidy pulled the man’s boots off then dragged the sodden jeans down Sundance’s legs and laid them with everything else. “Settle down in there.” He motioned with his head. “I’ll be with you in a couple of minutes.”

Butch watched as Sundance crawled to the back of the cave then he rearranged the shrubbery and listened for any sign of Lefors. All seemed quiet except for the rush of the river. He joined Sundance. The man was on his side, back to the entrance. Butch laid down beside The Kid. “You know we’d probably be warmer if we were face to face and up against each other.”

“See, I told you. All of this to get your hands on me.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Cassidy shook his head. “Can’t put anything over on you.”

Butch settled by The Kid and tried to ignore the man’s constant shivering and chattering teeth. Finally he’d had enough.

“Look are you going to swallow your pride or lay there and freeze to death?”

“What do you care?” The Kid’s voice was tight with anger. “You damn near got me killed.”

Butch had had it. “Listen you ungrateful bastard, I was trying to save your miserable life!” he shouted. “Why the hell didn’t you ever learn to swim?”

There was a long silence between them.

“Kid?”  Butch said more softly, regretting his loss of temper. Given the time to think about it, he realized something bad must have happened in the man’s past that he didn’t want to confront or talk about it. Sundance was never this tight-lipped.

“Just leave it!” Sundance snapped.

Another long silence. Then a deep sigh.

“Thanks,” Sundance finally said.

“Don’t thank me. If you hadn’t been willing to jump we’d probably still be up there. But, when we get back I’m going to teach you to swim one way or another.”

“Nope,” Sundance replied. “I’ve had all the water I want for a lifetime.”

Still another long silence except for the clicking of Sundance’s teeth.

“You wouldn’t have left me there?” Sundance finally asked.

“Jez, Kid. How long have we ridden together? Do you really think I’d abandon you?”

More silence. More shivering.

“You never talk much about your past, but you sure the hell just told me a lot. Maybe someday you’ll tell me who left you behind.”

“Maybe.”

“Now are you going to turn around and try to warm up?”

Begrudgingly, The Kid rolled around to face Butch. Cassidy drew him near trying hard not to react to Sundance’s cold, clammy flesh or the fact that they were groin to groin as he had so many times wanted to be.

“Tuck you head underneath my chin,” Butch said, wrapping his arms around the blond. For the moment his only concern could be getting Sundance warm.

That effort took a while. Cassidy dozed off. He woke as Sundance sighed and snuggled closer to him and Butch realized The Kid had stopped shivering.  Sundance’s breath was warm against his chest and the man had draped his arm over Butch’s side to hold him tight.

Butch lay quietly, savoring the moment. This was probably as close as he’d ever get to what he really wanted with The Kid. Sundance’s preferences were clearly for women, not even a hint of interest in taking an excursion to the wild side. But that hadn’t deterred Butch in his private moments when he thought of Sundance and himself together, rutting like the magnificent male animals they were. Sometimes he fucked Sundance. Sometimes Sundance fucked him. Sometimes they just used hands and mouths. However, it was nothing but a hopeful dream because he would never make the first move. Having Sundance around without sex was better than no Sundance at all should he ever find out.

“What are you doing?” Sundance asked sleepily, dragging Cassidy out of his thoughts.

“Nothing.” Butch lied. “It’s early yet. Go back to sleep.” He eased his grasp on the man.

“If you’re doing nothing, what’s poking me in the belly?”

The breath caught in Butch’s throat. “Sorry, Kid. I always wake up with a hard-on in the morning and us being close like this isn’t helping.” Cassidy tried to pull away but Sundance’s arm kept him close.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Sundance stated, pulling back to look into Butch’s face. “You think I don’t know? That I haven’t known for a long time?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Cassidy cleared his throat.

“Then if I said ‘yes’ you wouldn’t have any idea what I meant?”

Cassidy pursed his lips knowing he was damned no matter what he said. “What do you want me to say?”

“The truth. That’s all. Just the truth.”

“Okay.” Butch nodded. “I want you.” He bowed his head. “I have for a long time.”

“So why haven’t you  said anything?”

“What did you want me to say? Gee, Sundance, I’d really like to jump your bones and fuck the living daylights out of you?”

“It would be honest and a good start.”

“Considering I’ve never seen you give any man so much as a second look, why would I think you’d want to hear that from me?”

Sundance shrugged. “I guess you wouldn’t.”

“Look, neither of us is in very good shape right now. I’ve got aches and bruises where I didn’t think I could get aches and bruises and I’m sure you do too. So let’s revisit this when we get out of this predicament and see if the interest is still there.”

“You turning me down?” Sundance seemed surprised.

“I just want you to be sure about this.”

“I’m about as sure as I’m ever going to be. Take your chance while you can. I might not be this agreeable or beholding in the future.”

“If you’ve known, why wait until now?” Cassidy studied the blond.

“You know what your problem is? You think too damn much.”

“But you always tell me that’s what I’m good at.”

“I lied,” Sundance grumbled. He studied the older man and seemed to make a decision. “You know something else?”

“What?”

“You keep thinking for another ten seconds and you’re going to think yourself right out of your best chance at me.”

“I don’t know…  You’re acting mighty strange. Did you hit your head or something?” Cassidy closely studied the blond

“Five seconds.” Sundance took a deep breath as he made up his mind for both of them. “Goddamn it Butch, sometimes you just have to grab the rattlesnake by the tail and hope for the best.”

Cassidy’s eyes widened in surprised. “I’ve got news for you, Kid—that’s not my tail you’re grabbing.”

“So it’s not.” Sundance just raised his eyebrows and then he started to laugh.

“Oh, hell,” Butch muttered, grabbing Sundance. “Just remember, you asked for this.”

But for all his threat, Butch pulled Sundance close and kissed him. His first surprise—Sundance kissed him back with equal passion. His second surprise—he wasn’t the only one good at belly poking. The Kid was hard against him and Butch knew it wouldn’t take much for either of them to get off. He just hoped that Sundance would be intrigued enough to consider round two somewhere down the line.

Sundance moaned and clutched Butch’s shoulders pulling the man on top.

Their first time was quick and frenzied…all hands and awkward thrusting. But it still left both of them sweaty and satisfied. They lay quietly afterwards.

Sundance rested his head against Cassidy’s smooth-skinned chest. “Butch?” he said tentatively.

“Yeah.” Cassidy rubbed his hand up The Kid’s back.

There was a long silence and then Sundance finally spoke. “When I was six some older boys decided it would be fun to teach me to swim. They dragged me to a pond on the edge of town. It took five of them but they threw me in. I kept yelling I couldn’t swim but they didn’t care. They just laughed as I cried for help and flapped around in the water. They told me to sink or swim. That’s how they were taught.

“Did they finally pull you out?”

“No. They ran and left me there.” He felt Cassidy’s hand freeze against his shoulder.

“They abandoned you. How did you get out?”

“I managed to get close enough to ground that I could touch bottom with my feet. I crawled out and spit up water for nearly an hour. The next day when I went to school all the kids laughed at me. Those boys told everyone they’d given me a swimming lesson and that I’d cried like a little girl.”

“And that didn’t make you want to learn how?” He returned to massaging Sundance’s back.

“I was too afraid,” Sundance admitted. “To this day I’m terrified of deep water. Guess I’m just more scared of dying.”

“That makes two of us. But I wasn’t joking earlier. I could teach you to swim. Not the way those kids did but at least give you enough confidence not to be afraid.”

Sundance pulled up enough to look at Butch. “Would you do that?”

“Said I would. You know, most people float as long as they don’t panic. You think about it and when we get back, if you want, we’ll head out to a little pool I know on the river.”

“Thanks.” Another moment’s silence. “Butch?”

“Yeah.”

“Would you really have stayed up on that ledge with me?”

“We’d probably still be up there now.”

“Glad we’re not.”

“This time was too close for comfort. I’m thinking we need to change our scenery.”

“Got any ideas.”

“I’m working on a couple of things. When we get back we can sit down with Etta and talk this out.”

“Etta,” Sundance murmured and sighed deeply. “Jez, what are we going to tell Etta about this?”

“You think she needs to know?”

“I think she’ll know the minute she sees us. She’ll probably say ‘well it’s about damned time’.”

“You don’t think she’ll be upset?”

“Only if we leave her out in the cold.”

That brought Butch up short.

“Look, I know the two of you have wanted to get together for some time. I also know neither of you have done anything about it. And I thank you for respecting me and her. But, maybe it’s time we sat down and made plans for the future—personally and professionally for all of us. Etta’s been a part of us for a long time. Maybe now it’s time to make it a true partnership.”

“You think so?” Butch didn’t sound convinced. “You think she’ll want in on this?”

“She might. Regarding sex, she’s a very open-minded young woman as I’ve found out over time.” Sundance closed his eyes in memory. “There’s very little she hasn’t been willing to try at least once.”

“And that doesn’t bother you?”

“It’s her decision.” Sundance raised his eyebrows. “And at least I’ll know who she’s fooling around with.”

Butch snickered. “And what about when we have an itch that only we can scratch?”

“Maybe she’ll want to watch.” Sundance waggled his eyebrows.

“Jez, how do I get myself into these things?”

“You started it.”

“Yeah, well, you wouldn’t happen to be feeling a little itchy right now would you?”

“Could be.” Sundance smiled. This was not the smile that signaled danger. That meant your seconds on Earth were probably numbered. This was a smile that put the sun to shame. A smile that could charm a saint into sin. This smile had charmed Butch Cassidy from their first meeting. And whatever their future held he hoped that smile would be his last living sight.

They reached for each other at the same time. Butch quickly took control. He kissed Sundance from head to toe then brought him off with his mouth. And when he guided Sundance’s hand down to his groin he was surprised at the gentleness of The Kid’s touch. He was even more surprised that afterwards Sundance leaned down and tasted him.

Butch had always heard that from the worst situation could come some good. Well he sure believed it at this moment. He and The Kid and grown closer from a near-death experience and he doubted there was much that would part them until the end of their days. And, if Etta was willing to become a part of that life, so be it. But he knew he’d never abandon Sundance, never leave him to face a lonely future. Through the best or worst of times he would stay at Sundance’s side.


End file.
